


The Prince's Fit

by SolNiveAngelo (Mogadorian_Wolf)



Category: Cinderella (1950), Cinderella - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2019-02-10 14:43:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12914073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mogadorian_Wolf/pseuds/SolNiveAngelo
Summary: The Prince has to find a wife, but he doesn't want a wife. He sets up a work around with the Gardner he's in love with.





	The Prince's Fit

**Author's Note:**

> Because I've always wondered why they're having a ball to find the prince a bride.

There was a ball. Normally that's the beginning of a beautiful story where a girl meets her prince, and they happily get married. The end. No one ever asks why there's a ball to find the prince a bride in the first place. It's just there.

                The prince had several explanations on why his parents were throwing a ball to find him a bride. He was getting older, in his parents eyes (and probably society's too, but that's an irrelevant speculation), and wasn't married. He was also their only son (only child even) and as royalty that of course was a cause for concern. It definitely didn't have anything to do with the completely innocent kiss he'd shared with one of 12 princes that happened to be the same age as him from a neighboring kingdom that had visited last week.

                It wasn't like they tried to _only_ invite females to the ball. How could they rationalize leaving out all those male royals they had a tentative alliance with after all? And of course those alliances brought some of their sons with them that were much closer to the prince's age. So he had some dancing partners if he had to dance. At the very least, they provided a refuge from the finely dressed women that flirted with him, hope shining in their eyes. He danced with a few just to appease them and was no more than polite to them.

                Up on the overlooking balcony his parents inhabited, he could see the beginning of disapproval forming on their faces. He sighed and made his way outside to the balcony overlooking the dark garden. The atmosphere already felt stifling, and he was supposed to be up all night acting like the perfect prince, dancing and smiling and picking a bride. Sure he had a whole plan for it, but he wasn’t sure how long he would have to wait for it and it was boring until then.

                “Oof.” A man in a dress flopped over the rail. The dress almost flopped over his head at the movement. He shakily got back to his feet, smoothing his dress back down. A streak of dirt was still visible on the side of his face, and he wobbled a couple steps with a wince. “I hate these heels.”

                The prince rolled his eyes. “You picked the clothes, didn’t you?”

                “No my fairy godfather did, and he’s expecting my firstborn,” The party crasher shot back, lifting his dress to mess with his shoes.

                “That’s going to be a long wait.”

                “You know what? Screw it. I’ll dance barefoot; I can pull that off.” He kicked the shoes off into the corner of the balcony while the prince watched unimpressed.

                “I was beginning to wonder if you were going to show up.”

                The party crasher snorted. “Had to make sure everything was set for the ensuing drama, didn’t I? Plus I had trouble getting a dress; you’d think fairy godmother services would be a little more customer friendly. Ended up with Rumplestiltskin hijacking it. Gotta be out of here by midnight. I think he did that just to mess with me.”

                “You’ve got two hours.” The prince gave him a hard look while the other man just shrugged. He rolled his eyes again. “Put your shoes back on, Ash-“

“I’m Cinderella for the night,” the party crasher cut in.

“Whatever. I’ll worry about that later. You have to leave one behind for me to chase after you, remember?”

The party crasher gave an annoyed growl but fetched the shoes. “I wouldn’t have agreed to that if I knew how uncomfortable they were. They’re made of glass; I swear Rumplestiltskin has it out for me,” he muttered. After slipping them back on and rearranging his dress, he turned to face the prince. “Well? Do I look presentable?”

                The prince eyed him up and down, a little smile playing at his lips. “I suppose you’ll have to do, Ash of the garden. Ready to make your grand entrance?”

                The prince held out his arm, and Ash glared at it for a moment before taking it. “I will get you back for that. We probably should’ve rethought our entrance. Walking in on the prince’s arm when he went to the garden balcony alone is a little suspicious.”

                The prince just laughed. “I think it’ll be good for the mystery.”

                And then they entered the ball room. It took a bit before the whole room was gaping at them, and by that point, the prince had managed to get his partner dancing passably on the floor with whispered instructions.

                “Have you danced in this before,” Ash whispered as the prince drew him closer.

                He smiled. “I trained in dancing in all sorts of manner of shoes, except glass. That’s just nonsensical.”

                “Would it be bad to kiss you now?”

                The prince laughed. “Probably, but maybe I could steal one on the way out.”

                Ash laughed, daring to take a step closer. “I’d like that. One question. What are you going to do about the whole heir problem?”

                “I know a guy who deals in children. For the right price, we can end up with one, and if we play our cards right, make everyone believe it.”

                “Not everyone as gullible as you seem to think they are.”

                “They’ll believe what they want,” The prince told him, tone dipping down. “As long as it doesn’t cause problems for them, they’ll buy into it. Thanks for doing this for me.”

                Ash shrugged. “You’d have done it for me, besides Tremalaine’s helping as long as you get her two daughters married to royalty.”

                “That shouldn’t be too much of a problem. I didn’t know you two got along.”

                “She took me in when I had no one. She’s not the nicest, but as long as it serves her, she’s willing to work with people,” Ash whispered in a thick voice. “I guess she knows how hard it can be to go against the grain.”

                They slowly danced in that moment, letting it rest over to them as everyone watched them: the maidens enviously, the king and queen hopeful. But they didn’t share in the couple’s connection. They didn’t know their shared past, the depth of the care they had for each other. All those thousands of eyes saw was the prince falling in love with some girl he brought in from the balcony. And when the clock chimed at midnight, they only saw how the prince ran after his fleeing partner. They didn’t know the story, and maybe they didn’t care to know.


End file.
